Dance is an expression of your soul

HE tip-toes up to the mark, takes three steps and then pushes off his right foot. His body twists, almost like a pretzel, spinning 360 degrees, one point he’s between the sky and the ground. He lands, coming down on his left foot with the deftness and ease of a cat. He then does a handstand with his feet pointing sideways.

This all sounds extremely hard and takes people years’ of practise to perfect. But Mlondi Ndlovu would disagree, partly anyway. For dance, according to the 24-year-old, is a culmination of a number of factors.

For anybody to feel your energetic vibes out on the dance floor, you need soul, culture and most importantly you need to tell a story.

The Inanda resident is one of four finalists in this year’s Sprite Uncontainable hip hop talent search. Mlondi, is no stranger to overcoming adversity and dance has been his only way of surviving and making ends meet. In fact he’s described it as his essence.

“I grew up with my granny and never knew my father. The first time I heard about him, I was going to his funeral in Grade 11. In a short space of time, I lost my gran and my mother, my two pillars of support in my childhood. It was tough and my only outlet was dance.

“I remember watching the movie ‘Stomp the Yard’ and thinking I want to do that. But the one thing I could never forget was my culture. So I learned different styles of dance and began to blend them together and it seemed to work,” he explained.

Mlondi and two of his friends from the township formed the Survivors Dance Crew.

“We chose the name which summed up our character, overcoming tragedy and the circumstances surrounding us. For many living in the township, there’s no easy way of breaking the cycle of poverty but dance was our way out, hence the name.”

Refreshingly Mlondi said he felt his duty was to keep the art of pantsula dancing alive. Pantsula is a highly energetic dance form that originated in the black suburbs of South Africa during the Apartheid era.

“While I blend a number of styles in my dance, the most important and one uniquely Mzansi is pantsula. Every young dancer wants to mimic US dancers but what are we without our culture, we are nothing,” he said.

The Survivors Dance Crew recently travelled to New York where they were the first African dance crew to appear at the renowned World Of Dance competition.

“The people were blown away by our style. The Americans wanted to see Africa’s soul and heart on the stage, not us copying and regurgitating the same thing they see in hip hop videos,” he smiled.

The 24-year-old who has gone solo for the latest competition said he was confident in his abilities but winning was not his sole goal.

“I would love to win, but I’d rather the win be the cherry on the top. I just want a chance to free my soul and show the judges my talent,” Mlondi said.